Central government has wished them well but closed its wallet to the Milan/Cortina bid therefre question arise over its likely succcess..

Italy's Undersecretary for Sport Giancarlo Giorgetti said that any Italian bid for the Games will have to find other means of funding.

"We welcome the realisation of the Olympic Games 2026, but at this point, given that the candidacies are divisive, there has not been an Italian candidature but a plurality, each will have to demonstrate that they are able to cope independently," he said.

Normally the IOC demands central government backing for any Olympic Games.

Up for grabs

At the end of last month the Japanese city of Sapporo, ended its bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The official reason was the recent earthquake in the Hokkaido region of the country where Sapporo is the capital.

However reports and rumours of the withdrawal of Sapporo have been circulating for many months with speculation that the city wants to concentrate its bid on 2030 Winter Olympics instead.

Some question the earthquake as the sole reason.

There had been concerns that if Sapporo went for 2026 and won then there would be four consecutive Summer and Winter Games in Asia - Pyeongchang in 2018, Tokyo in 2020 and Beijing in 2022.